Just as Jack had mentioned earlier, once the dust settled, he still had time to buy a lovely little dress and a bouquet of flowers to visit his eldest daughter with Jubal.
Although the little girl would inevitably endure a painful bone marrow puncture tomorrow and be confirmed as a misdiagnosis, a "false alarm" was much better than undergoing months or even years of prolonged treatment.
With advancements in medical technology, diseases like "childhood aplastic anemia" or "childhood leukemia" were no longer incurable. Still, the lengthy treatment processes took a toll on both the children and their parents.
Saturday quickly arrived. Jack had no idea how wild Danny and his wife Linda's "night of passion" had been, but his "game night" with Hannah had been a blast.
Octavio was in jail, and while the jury's verdict was still unknown, at least his son was saved. The surgery was a success. Although the road ahead remained challenging, it had given the family a glimmer of hope.
On Sunday morning, Hannah had plans to go shopping with Alexis Castle, the young beauty of the Castle family. Jack stayed home alone, typing away at his manuscript. Just as he was deep into writing, his phone suddenly rang. The caller was none other than Rick Castle.
"So, care to explain what's going on here?" It took Jack a full ten minutes to unlock Castle's high-tech security door using his lock-picking tools. Inside the living room, he found the famous author tied to a chair with tape around his hands and feet.
Castle had half a piece of tape stuck to his face, slumped over a glass coffee table with his face pressed against his phone, which was covered in his saliva. It was clear how much effort it had taken him to make that call.
"I just wanted to do some role-playing. I'm at a point in my novel where the protagonist, Nikki Heat, is tied to a chair. I needed to figure out how to escape."
Castle wasn't at all surprised that Jack had easily entered his house. In his mind, lock-picking was a skill every FBI agent should have.
"So, you had Alexis tie you up before she left and didn't think about the consequences of not being able to escape?"
Jack cut the tape binding this clown's hands and feet, then picked up the wallet lying on the floor. Evidently, Alexis had played her role as the robber faithfully and had cleaned out her dad's cash before leaving.
"Calling for help is a viable method, isn't it?" Castle grimaced as he ripped the tape off his face, which was also covered in saliva. He had apparently used his tongue to slowly wet the tape to get it off.
Jack couldn't help but wonder how Castle planned to integrate this scene into his book, particularly with the sultry and sexy female protagonist, Nikki Heat.
Castle hurriedly wiped his phone clean, checked his messages, and began urging Jack, "Come on, come on. You've got the car keys, right? We need to get to the Beaumont Hotel immediately."
"The Beaumont Hotel? Us?" Jack asked, puzzled.
"Oh, come on! An hour ago, Beckett called me and sent a message afterward. There's been a murder at a wedding at the Beaumont Hotel—a bridesmaid was killed. Don't tell me you don't want to check it out."
"Fine." Jack shrugged indifferently. His train of thought for writing had already been derailed by this character, so he might as well join in the spectacle.
The Beaumont Hotel, located near Central Park in Manhattan, was a five-star hotel under the jurisdiction of the NYPD's 12th Precinct. It wasn't far from the upscale apartments where both of them lived.
In the hotel lobby, Castle greeted two NYPD detectives with enthusiasm as though they were old friends.
The two detectives weren't too familiar with Jack, but he recognized them. The slender, short, white detective was Kevin Ryan, and the burly Latino detective was Javier Esposito.
These two were quite the comedic duo and the undisputed jokers of the precinct. They seemed to have grown chummy with Castle over time, greeting him warmly.
When they noticed Jack, they were a bit surprised, not understanding why an FBI agent was there. But as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Or, in this case, shared a love for drama. When Jack recounted Castle's recent embarrassment, both Ryan and Esposito burst into gleeful laughter.
"We were about to send out a search party for you!"
"It's work. You understand work, right?" Castle weakly retorted, quickly changing the subject. "Where's the crime scene?"
"Sixth floor. Let's head up together. We just got the guest list from security," Ryan said, waving a stack of A4 paper.
On the sixth floor, the four of them stepped out of the elevator. Castle, now fully animated, began probing, "I heard a bridesmaid was killed. What's the story? She wasn't wearing the bridesmaid dress, was she?"
He exchanged a knowing grin with Esposito.
Ryan, ever the kind one, replied, "Not that bad. It's a light purple chiffon dress."
"Are you serious? Light purple?" Esposito mocked his partner's taste as usual.
Ryan defended himself, "What's wrong with that? I have sisters. Have you seen the dresses they wore as bridesmaids? Hideous!" He even made an exaggerated gesture to emphasize his point.
"Typically, bridesmaid dresses are intentionally ugly," Jack, who had attended several weddings, chimed in with his experienced opinion.
"Really? Why?" The single Esposito was puzzled.
"To make the bride look even more beautiful," Beckett explained as she approached, her long legs exuding her usual confident charm.
Castle perked up at her arrival. "Aha! See? Every woman dreams about their wedding. Even Kate Beckett isn't an exception. I bet you've cut out wedding gowns from magazines, haven't you?"
Beckett leaned in slightly and said firmly, "I've never cut wedding gowns out of magazines."
"You're lying!" Castle turned to Jack. "As a profiler, she's lying, right?"
Jack took advantage of Beckett's momentary distraction to nod subtly, prompting the comedic duo to mercilessly tease their boss.
"Absolutely."
They followed Beckett into a guest room where several forensics team members were busy. A female corpse lay in front of the wardrobe, wearing the aforementioned light purple chiffon dress.
A Latina forensic pathologist crouched by the body, examining it. She was slightly chubby with curly hair and a round face. When she saw Jack, her eyes betrayed a momentary amazement.
"Mind if I?" Jack put on rubber gloves and crouched opposite her, politely asking.
The pathologist seemed momentarily lost in thought until Beckett cleared her throat, snapping her back to reality. She quickly extended a hand to Jack.
"Jack Tavoller, FBI. I'm a friend of Castle and Beckett's. May I take a look at the body? I've always been interested in forensic work."
The pathologist smiled radiantly and nodded repeatedly without speaking.
"Dr. Lanie Parish, right? Hannah's mentioned you before," Jack added, slightly unnerved by her gaze.
Lanie, Beckett's close friend, had a connection to Jack through Hannah. While they hadn't met before, their circles naturally overlapped as their friends formed new bonds.
"Oh, I remember now. Hannah's handsome boyfriend," Lanie said casually, motioning for Jack to proceed as if the corpse on the ground were an interesting object rather than something macabre.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get early access to chapters by joining my Patre@n!Find me at: patre@n*com/Mutter
You can read each novel for $5 or get them all for just $15.
I Am Zeus, KING OF GODS (Chapter 120)
Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 391)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 471)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 677)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 1059)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1418)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1422)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1452)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1504)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld!(Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 703)
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter][+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]